A Petrarchan sonnet
based on a character
in the Ramayana
‘Why
do
you
cry?’
‘I
flew
too
high.
Un-
done,
all
see
me
fall.’
In the magic forest of the Ramayana, the early Indian epic, Sampati, ‘the king of the vultures’, tells the story of how he lost his wings, in a tale that resembles the Greek myth of Icarus.
My brother and I were racing each other and we flew up to the sun. Higher and higher we flew, faster and faster in spirals. When the sun had reached the middle of the sky, Jatayu grew tired. I saw that he was almost fainting from the heat, so I spread my wings over him and shielded him. My wings were burnt off, and I fell here, on top of the Vindhya mountain. I have lived here since then but have had no news of my brother.
The Ramayana is thought to date from between 700 and 500 BC.
